The Eye of Deceit
By Simone
Picture this: it’s the year 2059 and blindness no longer exists. A cure has been discovered for every type of blindness, from genetic to age-related. This is where our story of a young girl named Vivian, begins.
I was born with Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis, a genetic disease that is present from birth. Fortunately, before my birth, doctors found a cure to the disease. The cure involved injecting the healthy gene (which is mutated in my genetics) back into the eye. Sound complicated? That is why people around the world traveled to Dr. R.E. Tina to have optic surgeries done—but not just for blindness. The doctor was world-renowned for discovering ways to create 20/20 vision for people even if they had severe eye problems. She even knew how to create “novelty” features for the human eye, like x-ray vision and infrared vision. She truly was an amazing doctor.
“How are you feeling Vivian?” The nurse inquired.
“Fine. I am nervous though,” I replied.
“Dr. Tina is very experienced, dearie. I can assure you everything will go as planned. I am just going to give you some anesthetic. I promise you won’t even feel a thing.”
As the nurse turned on the machine, I tried to calm my nerves.
“Just start counting backwards from 100.” I attempted to hide the quiver in my voice as I followed instructions.
“100, 99, 98, 97, 96…”
When I awoke from the surgery, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Literally. I could see. I felt like I has been missing out on the world ever since I was born. The vibrant colors of the wallpaper and the texture of the hospital gown I was wearing amazed me to the greatest extent. My mom took me home and everything I saw—the sky, the bluebirds, the grass, even things as simple as the colors of the cars flying by overwhelmed me. I felt like my life had reached its apex and nothing could ever go wrong…but I was mistaken.
Ten years later, I was in high school and thriving. I had loads of friends and I got good grades. I believed I was the girl who had it all. Until suddenly, I began seeing another side to the world, the world I once thought was flawless. I began noticing the poverty, unhappiness, and the problems the world succumbed to. I became depressed, and no longer felt loved by my friends or family. I no longer felt joy in anything that had once made me happy. Sooner or later, people all around me started feeling and acting the same way. My parents no longer told me they loved me. My friends no longer wanted to get together on weekends. My teachers no longer praised me. Everyone just seemed gloomy. Smiling was unheard of. And laughing was literally impossible. Something with the world was going terribly, terribly, wrong and I was determined to find out.
As I tried to piece together the puzzle, I struggled to fine the common denominator of why everyone seemed glum. It took months and months of research, but one day, I had a revelation. I figured out that everyone who was affected by the melancholy plague had received some type of eye surgery at one point in his or her life. Eye surgery was a common practice for my generation, and the generations before us. Those who were older took advantage of the cures being discovered to treat their vision problems that fatigued them for years. My generation used the so-called “novelty” procedures to enhance the quality of life. Upon further investigation, I found that everyone had procedures completed by Dr. R.E. Tina. I was suspicious, so I took evasive action.
One evening, I prepared to go undercover in order to find the cause of the mood engulfing the world. I suited up in my best “spy” gear, and snuck into the hospital. After I got into the medical building, I crept into the security office and flipped on the light switch. The nearest wall housed the microchips that held the recordings from the day. I got a hold of the nearest microchip and inserted it into the microchip drive on the wall screen. Immediately, the screen projected hours and hours of taping. I settled down in the chair, and prepared for a long night.
Going through the recordings was a long, laborious process. By 3 A.M., I had only one more microchip to look at, yet I was so fed up at looking at an empty hallway on tape for hours upon end, I was hardly awake. I dozed, until I heard the click, click, click of footsteps coming from the screen. I watched in amazement as I saw Dr. R.E. Tina on the screen waiting patiently in the once empty hallway. My jaw dropped as I saw her look up and down the hall, then flip open her cell phone. She dialed a number, and then waited.
“Come on Jesse, you know you can’t call me during work! My co-workers and patients would be suspicious if they heard me talking to you,” Dr. Tina said. “I know, I know. I have implanted it into 500,000 patients so far. I am trying, I am trying! With the new novelty surgeries, I am bringing in a lot of the younger population too. Just wait and see, I will get it implanted in the entire population soon enough…”
I flipped off the wall screen, still in awe. So the doctor was behind it! She was implanting something into her patients, I just didn’t know what. I knew I had to stop her, before she tried to “implant” the whole world. I crept back out of the security office and down to her workplace. Surprisingly, there was a light on inside. I slipped into my chameleon suit in order to blend into the walls without being seen. I followed the light and gasped when I found Dr. Tina. She was monitoring a wall screen that seemed to show millions of tiny dots all over a map of the world. I gasped when I realized those tiny dots represented everyone who she had “implanted” the mysterious technology into. Her head snapped in my direction when she heard the gasp. I froze. After she went back to monitoring her map, I got angry. I pulled out the rope I had stashed in my backpack, and in a matter of seconds, tore off my chameleon suit and tied her snugly to the chair.
“Dr. R.E. Tina, who do you think you are? I saw you talking to that Jesse character on the security camera recording. I know you are up to no good. Nearly the entire world is stuck in a mind frame that allows us to only see the unhappiness in life. You have two choices. You can either tell me what you are plotting, or I will call the police now and you can tell them!” I demanded, angrily.
“Ok, ok. I will tell you! Dr. Jesse and I created an eye lesion to implant in every single patient that passed through my doors. The objective originally was to eliminate unhappiness in the world. But Dr. Jesse had an alternate agenda. He changed the structure of the lesion without my knowledge so it would do exactly the opposite—eliminate happiness throughout the world. I told him that I didn’t approve, but he said I either had to help him or he would put a lesion in me!” She explained, exasperated.
“Let me get this straight, doctor. You have been secretly implanting lesions into every patient you do eye surgery on? That is insane, and truly vicious. Before I call the authorities, tell me what the antidote is.”
“The only antidote I have is a pill—but it has not been tested yet. It could be potentially dangerous.”
“I have been going around for half a year not being able to feel happy or loved. Give me that pill now. I am willing to risk the side effects for the benefit of humanity.” And with that, I swallowed the pill and called the authorities.
The night was rough. I tossed and turned all night, not knowing if I was going to wake up the next morning. But I felt content in the fact that even if I didn’t, I had helped capture the villains that were planning to ruin society.
By Simone
Picture this: it’s the year 2059 and blindness no longer exists. A cure has been discovered for every type of blindness, from genetic to age-related. This is where our story of a young girl named Vivian, begins.
I was born with Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis, a genetic disease that is present from birth. Fortunately, before my birth, doctors found a cure to the disease. The cure involved injecting the healthy gene (which is mutated in my genetics) back into the eye. Sound complicated? That is why people around the world traveled to Dr. R.E. Tina to have optic surgeries done—but not just for blindness. The doctor was world-renowned for discovering ways to create 20/20 vision for people even if they had severe eye problems. She even knew how to create “novelty” features for the human eye, like x-ray vision and infrared vision. She truly was an amazing doctor.
“How are you feeling Vivian?” The nurse inquired.
“Fine. I am nervous though,” I replied.
“Dr. Tina is very experienced, dearie. I can assure you everything will go as planned. I am just going to give you some anesthetic. I promise you won’t even feel a thing.”
As the nurse turned on the machine, I tried to calm my nerves.
“Just start counting backwards from 100.” I attempted to hide the quiver in my voice as I followed instructions.
“100, 99, 98, 97, 96…”
When I awoke from the surgery, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Literally. I could see. I felt like I has been missing out on the world ever since I was born. The vibrant colors of the wallpaper and the texture of the hospital gown I was wearing amazed me to the greatest extent. My mom took me home and everything I saw—the sky, the bluebirds, the grass, even things as simple as the colors of the cars flying by overwhelmed me. I felt like my life had reached its apex and nothing could ever go wrong…but I was mistaken.
Ten years later, I was in high school and thriving. I had loads of friends and I got good grades. I believed I was the girl who had it all. Until suddenly, I began seeing another side to the world, the world I once thought was flawless. I began noticing the poverty, unhappiness, and the problems the world succumbed to. I became depressed, and no longer felt loved by my friends or family. I no longer felt joy in anything that had once made me happy. Sooner or later, people all around me started feeling and acting the same way. My parents no longer told me they loved me. My friends no longer wanted to get together on weekends. My teachers no longer praised me. Everyone just seemed gloomy. Smiling was unheard of. And laughing was literally impossible. Something with the world was going terribly, terribly, wrong and I was determined to find out.
As I tried to piece together the puzzle, I struggled to fine the common denominator of why everyone seemed glum. It took months and months of research, but one day, I had a revelation. I figured out that everyone who was affected by the melancholy plague had received some type of eye surgery at one point in his or her life. Eye surgery was a common practice for my generation, and the generations before us. Those who were older took advantage of the cures being discovered to treat their vision problems that fatigued them for years. My generation used the so-called “novelty” procedures to enhance the quality of life. Upon further investigation, I found that everyone had procedures completed by Dr. R.E. Tina. I was suspicious, so I took evasive action.
One evening, I prepared to go undercover in order to find the cause of the mood engulfing the world. I suited up in my best “spy” gear, and snuck into the hospital. After I got into the medical building, I crept into the security office and flipped on the light switch. The nearest wall housed the microchips that held the recordings from the day. I got a hold of the nearest microchip and inserted it into the microchip drive on the wall screen. Immediately, the screen projected hours and hours of taping. I settled down in the chair, and prepared for a long night.
Going through the recordings was a long, laborious process. By 3 A.M., I had only one more microchip to look at, yet I was so fed up at looking at an empty hallway on tape for hours upon end, I was hardly awake. I dozed, until I heard the click, click, click of footsteps coming from the screen. I watched in amazement as I saw Dr. R.E. Tina on the screen waiting patiently in the once empty hallway. My jaw dropped as I saw her look up and down the hall, then flip open her cell phone. She dialed a number, and then waited.
“Come on Jesse, you know you can’t call me during work! My co-workers and patients would be suspicious if they heard me talking to you,” Dr. Tina said. “I know, I know. I have implanted it into 500,000 patients so far. I am trying, I am trying! With the new novelty surgeries, I am bringing in a lot of the younger population too. Just wait and see, I will get it implanted in the entire population soon enough…”
I flipped off the wall screen, still in awe. So the doctor was behind it! She was implanting something into her patients, I just didn’t know what. I knew I had to stop her, before she tried to “implant” the whole world. I crept back out of the security office and down to her workplace. Surprisingly, there was a light on inside. I slipped into my chameleon suit in order to blend into the walls without being seen. I followed the light and gasped when I found Dr. Tina. She was monitoring a wall screen that seemed to show millions of tiny dots all over a map of the world. I gasped when I realized those tiny dots represented everyone who she had “implanted” the mysterious technology into. Her head snapped in my direction when she heard the gasp. I froze. After she went back to monitoring her map, I got angry. I pulled out the rope I had stashed in my backpack, and in a matter of seconds, tore off my chameleon suit and tied her snugly to the chair.
“Dr. R.E. Tina, who do you think you are? I saw you talking to that Jesse character on the security camera recording. I know you are up to no good. Nearly the entire world is stuck in a mind frame that allows us to only see the unhappiness in life. You have two choices. You can either tell me what you are plotting, or I will call the police now and you can tell them!” I demanded, angrily.
“Ok, ok. I will tell you! Dr. Jesse and I created an eye lesion to implant in every single patient that passed through my doors. The objective originally was to eliminate unhappiness in the world. But Dr. Jesse had an alternate agenda. He changed the structure of the lesion without my knowledge so it would do exactly the opposite—eliminate happiness throughout the world. I told him that I didn’t approve, but he said I either had to help him or he would put a lesion in me!” She explained, exasperated.
“Let me get this straight, doctor. You have been secretly implanting lesions into every patient you do eye surgery on? That is insane, and truly vicious. Before I call the authorities, tell me what the antidote is.”
“The only antidote I have is a pill—but it has not been tested yet. It could be potentially dangerous.”
“I have been going around for half a year not being able to feel happy or loved. Give me that pill now. I am willing to risk the side effects for the benefit of humanity.” And with that, I swallowed the pill and called the authorities.
The night was rough. I tossed and turned all night, not knowing if I was going to wake up the next morning. But I felt content in the fact that even if I didn’t, I had helped capture the villains that were planning to ruin society.